The Carillon - Volume 65, Issue 8

the carillon

the staff editor-in-chief holly funk editor@carillonregina.com business manager thomas czinkota business@carillonregina.com

production manager shae sackman production@carillonregina.com advertising manager holden norrie ads@carillonregina.com communications mehrnoush bahramimehr comms@carillonregina.com technical editor vacant tech@carillonregina.com

multimedia/graphics editors multimedia@carillonregina.com safal gangwani graphics@carillonregina.com lee lim copy editor aurel dumont copyeditor@carillonregina.com news editor gillian massie news@carillonregina.com a&c editor vacant arts@carillonregina.com s&h editor vacant sports@carillonregina.com op-ed editor hammad ali op-ed@carillonregina.com distribution manager chandra wassill distribution@carillonregina.com staff writer amina salah staff writer victoria baht staff writer bodie robinson news writer josh king a&c writer jorah bright s&h writer sophia stevens contributors mindy gregory, katlyn richardson board of directors holly funk, jacob nelson, and honourary members: shiva souri, jorah bright, hammad ali, shae sackman, amina salah and thomas czinkota

227 Riddell Center

the paper

University of Regina - 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, Canada S4S 0A2 www.carillonregina.com Ph: (306) 586 8867

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The Carillon welcomes contributions.

Opinions expressed in the pages of the Carillon are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carillon Newspaper Inc. Opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in the Carillon are those of the advertisers, and not necessarily of The Carillon Newspaper Inc. or its staff.

The Carillon is published no less than 11 times each semester during the fall and winter semesters and periodically throughout the sum mer. The Carillon is published by the Carillon Newspaper Inc., a non-profit organization.

land acknowledgement

The Carillon is written on treaty four territory. As such, the staff recognize that we are living, working, and telling stories on and of Indigenous lands. We recognize that we are on the traditional homelands of the Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota peoples, along with the homeland of the Métis nation. The Carillon understands that it is pointless to acknowledge the land on which we work without speaking to our commitment to telling stories and prioritizing voices that further the return of the land to its place sacred place in the cultures of those that live here.

the manifesto

In keeping with our reckless, devil-may-care image, our office has absolutely no concrete information on the Carillon’s formative years readily available. What follows is the story that’s been passed down from editor to editor for over sixty years.

In the late 1950s, the University of Regina planned the construction of several new buildings on the campus grounds. One of these pro posed buildlings was a beltower on the academic green. If you look out on the academic green today, the first thing you’ll notice is that it has absolutely nothing resembling a belltower.

The University never got a belltower, but what it did get was the Car illon, a newspaper that serves as a symbolic bell tower on campus, a loud and clear voice belonging to each and every student.

the people’s friend; the tyrant’s foe

With this issue we’re officially through a third of the newspapers we’ll be publishing this academic year, and it’s been a joy to see old contributors return to our pages and new ones making powerful impressions. We’re happy to welcome news writer Josh King to our masthead this issue, and are still looking to hire editors for our arts & culture and sports & health sections so please check the “We’re hiring!” page on our website (carillonregina.com) if that sounds up your alley!

Finally, I’d like to remind student organiza tions on campus that we’re offering you free advertising in this printed paper and on our website, and you can view all details (and book your ads) through the “Advertise” page on our website. We still have plenty of print and website ad space available for purchase as well, so if you’re an organization or business looking to connect with students please contact ads@carillonregina.com to learn more about how we can help in that endeavor.

For

s&h

Ecochallenge

ProdYous

Contributor Katlyn Richardson tackles the topic of food insecurity in Regi na, how rising food costs exacerbate existing issues, and shares tips to reduce inflation’s impact.

Indigenous policing autonomy following JSCN

bodie robinson staff writer

It’s been over a month since trag edy occurred on James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN). In early September, the mass-stabbing left 11 dead and 18 injured. Suspect Myles Sanderson went into med ical distress after being captured, and was declared dead at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.

Some members of the JSCN have called to form an Indige nous-led police force to better serve their community. In order to better understand the RCMP response to this situation and to learn more about self-adminis tered police services, I spoke with Rick Ruddell, a professor of Jus tice Studies at the University of Regina.

How would you charac terize the RCMP response to the mass-stabbings at JSCN?

The police response, given the limitations of rural policing, was fairly rapid. It took some where between 35 to 40 minutes for the police to actually get on site after the first call for service. In rural areas, that’s pretty typical. What we know is that response times in cities are way faster, so very few cities publicize their re sponse times, but Ottawa does. In the case of an emergency in Otta wa [where] firearms are involved or if there’s a risk of serious in

jury, response time is about seven minutes. In rural Canada, to get a response time somewhere be tween 35 to 40 minutes – I won’t say that’s good – but it’s typical. I think a lot of people living in rural communities, including In digenous communities, feel isolat ed and vulnerable and sometimes fearful, just because of long police response times.

How would you charac terize the way that the RCMP conducted the manhunt for Myles and Damien Sander son?

The RCMP, after they real ized the severity of the incident, called in resources from around the province and surrounding provinces. I believe that over 160 officers were involved in the in vestigation, and the attempt to find the suspects. The suspects were allegedly spotted in Regi na, so other police services were involved in looking to apprehend these people as well.

The police response was fair ly rapid. The first emergency no tification came out within about 35 minutes of them responding to the scene. The police learned from the serious incident that happened in Nova Scotia two years ago. In Nova Scotia, the first emergency notification wasn’t re leased until eight hours into the incident. [The RCMP] learned from other places and other inci dents, and their intent was to keep

the public informed about what was going on.

On October 6, the RCMP reported that Myles Sander son was responsible for all 11 deaths during the mass-stab bing. His brother, Damien, acted as an accomplice in some way, but the extent of his role is still very ambigu ous. In fact, the RCMP stat ed that the evidence suggests Damien was also murdered by his brother, Myles. Does something like this happen often? Someone is coerced into being an accomplice and later becomes a victim them selves?

I’d say that would be a very rare situation. It speaks to how troubled that individual [Myles] was. The community was quite concerned about Myles, his men tal health, and his history of vi olence. These sorts of events are very rare, very hard to predict, and very hard to understand once they happen. We’re looking back and wondering how something so horrible could happen, and we’ll probably never have an answer.

Myles Sanderson had about 59 prior convictions, most involving assault and specifically domestic abuse. In 2015, he was sentenced for two years for stabbing his father-in-law. Myles was on statutory release, which

allows inmates to serve the final third of their sentence in the community. But Myl es was also a fugitive [un lawfully at large], as he had failed to report to his parole officer that he was living with his ex-spouse. If he had been pursued by the RCMP, this probably wouldn’t have happened. Is it common that someone remains unlawfully at large for several months?

When we look at the statis tics, […] under one per cent of people out on statutory release or on parole actually go on to com mit a violent offense. So, the risks are very low. […] The RCMP had warrants out for his arrest be cause he was unlawfully at large for violating the conditions of his release. But there’s about 300 people a year convicted for being unlawfully at large in Saskatche wan. There’s hundreds on that list of people unlawfully at large, for one reason or the other, and there’s just a limited number of officers to be looking for those in dividuals.

Considering that all of the murders occurred on JSCN, how is it distinct from something that may have happened in Regina or Sas katoon?

We know that rates of rural crime, throughout all of Canada, are higher than rates of urban

crime. So, people living in the countryside are generally living in places of higher risk. That risk goes up in northern Saskatche wan. The police throughout all the prairie provinces are stretched pretty thin, in terms of their de mands on them. […] They’re not always able to provide the level of policing that people in the city would enjoy. We’ve done a lot of survey work with rural Saskatch ewan residents. They general ly have trust and confidence in the police, but they’re not hap py about police response times. There’s no solution that wouldn’t be very costly.

What about terms of developing an Indigenous self-administered law en forcement?

In Saskatchewan, we have one self-administered Indigenous police service at File Hills just by Fort Qu’Appelle. That provides services to a number of First Nations, but a lot of First Na tions want to establish their own self-administered police services. These services are funded pro vincially and federally, and there’s been a real reluctance in Canada to add more. The last one we add ed in Canada was in 2003. So, it’s been about two decades that we haven’t added any.

I think that a lot of people would like to see more self-ad ministered police services, but it’s sort of difficult to do because not all First Nations are close to each other. So, you might have a First Nation with, say, five hundred people on it. To establish your own police service to serve five hundred people, […] it might not be very efficient, let’s put it that way. What some places are do ing, like in northern Ontario and Quebec, is that they use regional police services. One police service to cover thousands and thousands of square kilometres, including a number of First Nations within that territory. I think they’ve been reasonably successful, and I think they might serve as a model for Saskatchewan,… that might be the answer. I think a lot of Indig enous communities would like to see that. Maybe they could attract more Indigenous officers, to find a little bit different style of policing, and become more in touch with communities.

– Rick Ruddell

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A community that will hopefully have a police force of their own.

Illustration: Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay

“One police service to cover thousands and thousands of square kilometres, including a number of First Nations within that territory. I think they’ve been reasonably successful, and I think they might serve as a model for Saskatchewan… that might be the answer. I think a lot of Indigenous communities would like to see that.”

editor: gillian massie news@carillonregina.com the carillon

Justice Studies professor on benefits and challenges while developing an Indigenous based police force

news

Food sustainability app grown by U of R student

Oh, the places you’ll grow

gillian massie news editor

An abundance of zucchinis in Hannah Tait’s grandmother’s garden left her with an idea to get rid of a plentiful harvest, but also fight food insecurity in the pro cess. Now, something that began as an idea is being developed into a functioning app to help people connect with other urban growers in their area.

ProdYous is an agriculture technology startup app that is focused on connecting urban producers and urban consumers. The app will redistribute produce from different gardens right into the hands of buyers for a low cost or free.

Hannah Tait, a fourth-year Business student at the University of Regina, said part of the idea came from years of volunteer hours at the food bank and work ing with post-secondary students facing food insecurity.

“We could see that there were some gaps in how food was being distributed, or even the type of food that was being provided to people,” said Tait, who explained non-perishable foods donations are seen more often than fresh produce.

While watching her grand mother give away a plentiful har

vest of zucchinis from her garden, Tait thought there should be an easier, more effective way to con nect consumers with more afford able and local products.

“I think knowing where your food comes from is really import ant as we become more conscious consumers,” said Tait. At Can ada’s Farm Show, Tait and her team took the idea as a launching point for the 24 Hour Startup Powered by Cultivator competi tion to make an Agtech product.

“To develop an entire app in 24 hours is a monumental task, and I am so amazed with the de velopers we had helping us,” said Tait. “I think the way my team has pushed each other to really challenge ourselves is really excit ing.”

The competition was where the idea began to flourish. By the end of the 24 hours, the team had the app ProdYous, ready to present for the judges. Tait said it was nerve-wracking presenting in front of the other teams, but what really stuck out to the judges was the passion and social purpose of the product. The passion and social purpose paid off with Tait and her team winning the compe tition.

Tait was approached with lots of enthusiasm for ProdYous after winning the competition, and said one of the selling points

in terms of importance for the app was that large stores can be overwhelming for people.

“When that happens, peo ple aren’t getting the food that they need,” said Tait. “Whether that’s the nutrition value of their food or cultural appropriateness of their food, so giving people back the power to contribute and shape their food systems is a huge goal of ours as well as creating a new food system that is more sus tainable.”

Food begins to lose its nutri tional value as soon as it is har vested, and ProdYous will cut down on transportation costs, but also get more nutritious products to consumers quicker. Once the food gets to the consumer, Tait said the app will provide educa tional aspect to teach people how to grow their own food in a sus tainable way. Eventually, Tait said it’s a long-term goal to include a recipe portion of the app in cluding tutorials on how to cook food.

“I didn’t always see myself as someone who could shape the future of technology or shape the future of agriculture, but this is a little bit of a testament that every one has a role to play in technol ogy and agriculture. As someone [who considers] themselves as a Business-Humanities student from a city it’s hard to imagine,

but I do think I have a place.”

The app is tentatively set to launch in the spring, right as peo ple rototill the dirt in their gar dens.

Tait would like to thank her team Yug Shah, Zakiyyah

Mitchell Workshops partly open for Engineering students

A new shop, and a new 3D printer

josh king news writer

During my time on campus, I have never taken an Economics course, but it doesn’t take an ex pert to determine that a million dollars is a lot of money. Fortu nately, an anonymous donor was kind enough to use that money to further higher learning. A re cent donation to the University of Regina was used to set up new equipment and workspace for the Faculty of Engineering and Ap plied Science. The donation is dedicated to lifelong friends John and Tillie Mitchell.

When walking by the Mitch ell Workshops, one will notice the open design of the windows that face into the hall, which is a dras tic change and perk from the lack of windows in the incandescently lit Education Building. Inside the shop, tools are neatly laid upon the walls and several rooms have a variety of equipment an un trained eye like mine doesn’t rec ognize, though I’m assured that one of the sleek new rectangles is a 3D printer.

While near the new shop, I stopped 11 engineering students and apparently none of them yet had a chance to take advantage of the area. Some were of the opinion that the shop wasn’t yet open for students, but were uncer tain. In a brief conversation with Chris Yung, who is part of the ad ministration of the machine shop, it was clarified that they are still getting all the equipment opera

tional this semester and that the shop is currently partly open.

The shop is intended for use by undergraduate engineering students, to help give them more hands on experience during their degree, aligning with the univer sity’s experiential learning goals.

Experiential learning is a learn ing theory based upon learning by doing. Universities and educa tors who advocate for experiential

learning tout the benefits of in creased student engagement and that students enjoy the learning experience more.

The shop will also be shared by the Educating Youth in En gineering and Science program that is run by the U of R. The program has field trip opportu nities throughout the year for grades 2-9 and provides science day camps throughout the sum

mer months, demonstrating how the new shop will help the broad er community.

The $1 million donation for the workshop comes amid the U of R pandemic recovery. This May, it was announced that the U of R budget projected a $3.5 million shortfall, resulting in a re duction to the spending of each faculty by 2.7 per cent. As report

ed by Statistics Canada in 2020, universities across the country are facing similar budgetary issues. Amid rising tuitions, which many students find unfavourable, and decreasing provincial funding nation-wide, universities are in creasingly turning to private do nors and corporate sponsorships, like in this case of the John and Tillie Mitchell Student Shop.

What a sassy lad.

Photo: Lee Lim

Noorally, Yazdan Ranjbar, Baran Erfani, Christopher Jason, and Caitlin Cmoc who competed on the 24 Hour Startup ProdYous Agtech team.

Bringing a mini marketplace right to you at home. Illustration: Lee Lim

Environmentalism with the People’s Ecochallenge

October is a spooky time of year — and the only time of year I can bring myself to watch a hor ror movie — but this October is a scary month for more than one reason. It’s Campus Sustainabil ity Month, which means people are talking about the real-life monstrosity of climate change.

Campus Sustainability Month is run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustain ability in Higher Education, an organization dedicated to mak ing universities more sustainable.

Campuses as far south as Arizo na began October with chalk art and a seminar about fair-trade items. Likewise, the University of Washington will be holding a sustainability fair and giving out green awards. In Canada, McGill

lenge is having people participate in new sustainable habits for 21 days, so that people will leave with long-term sustainable habits.

As a bit of an environmen talist myself, I felt compelled to sign up. I found their dashboard easy to navigate and took a look through some of the activities that participants are supposed to com plete for points. The activities are diverse and include categories like “enacting equity” and “creating community,” in addition to more traditional environmental activi ties like eating more sustainably. Based upon completing the tuto rial and recording some of the ac tions that I have already built into my daily routine, I racked up 25 points on my first day for the uni versity team. However, I was trail ing behind some teammates who were hundreds of points ahead by

community. The previous orga nization claimed to be rooted in a philosophy of deep ecology, which is a belief advocating for the idea that nature has an inher ent value aside from human utili ty. Deep ecology also emphasizes the interconnectedness of people to the natural world in an almost mystical fashion.

Perhaps ironically, Arne Naess, the philosopher who coined the term deep ecology which Ecochallenge was founded on, believed that the mistake of many environmental movements was a shallow focus on educat ing the public about the facts of an environmental issue. Naess instead advocated for changing key assumptions that underlined modern attitudes toward the en vironment. With the switch away from facilitating philosophical

world’s largest companies invest ed in educating everyone about their carbon footprint is because it takes the focus and blame away from the institutions and people with power, and places it back on the individual. This focus on individuals avoids people with power having to take responsibil ity. While individual actions may help, climate change experts, ac cording to the International Panel on Climate Change 2022, agree that “individual actions are nec essary but insufficient to deliver transformative mitigation.”

Similar to carbon foot prints giving individuals a score on their environmental virtue, Ecochallenge awards points to participants for taking individ ual eco-friendly actions. While Ecochallenge asks participants to “eat plant-based meals,” effec

parties’ platforms.

In the spirit of keeping an eye on institutions rather than indi viduals, and to rack up some more points for the team, I looked at the University of Regina’s Strategic Plan for Sustainability. The most glaring issue is that the previous Strategic Plan for Sustainability had aims for 2015-2020, and the 2021-2026 plan is not yet released as we’re nearing the end of 2022. In the previous Strategic Plan for Sustainability, the university talks about several changes, like lower ing their carbon footprint by an average of 773 tonnes per year and increasing the amount of re cycling diverted from the landfill.

Also, over the last five years, the university has made a variety of efficiency upgrades to their buildings and made the list pub licly available online. The chang

University is holding conferences and student workshops.

To celebrate campus sustain ability month here at the Univer sity of Regina, the Sustainability Department sent out an email asking students to participate in the People’s Ecochallenge 2022. The idea of the Ecochallenge is students can check off activities each day, which gives points to the university’s team, and the univer sity has added the extra incentive of giving unnamed prizes to the top participants on campus. The overarching goal of the Ecochal

the fourth day of the challenge.

The People’s Ecochallenge has a history dating back to 2009. According to the Ecochal lenge website, they claim to have reached 139 countries with nearly 221,000 participants, but this year they report participants in only 36 countries thus far. Prior to 2009, the group went by another name – the Northwest Earth Institute.

Interestingly, the organiza tion was quite different. It was an organization that focused on equipping facilitators to have en vironmental discussions in their

discussions and towards gamify ing eco-friendly actions, Ecochal lenge may have changed from their more radical roots.

Events and approaches like Ecochallenge have often received criticism from other environmen talists as well. For example, almost everyone knows the term ‘carbon footprint.’ I can even remember calculating mine in middle school as part of science class. What few people know, however, is that the term ‘carbon footprint’ was pop ularized by BP, the oil company.

The reason one of the

tive action would work to make plant-based meals more afford able and accessible. This tension is highlighted particularly well by one challenge on their website, “compost food scraps.” Since I’m living in a city and going to a uni versity with no compost services, the structure of where I live pre vents me from being able to even attempt this challenge. Although, to its credit, Ecochallenge does have some goals that encourage people to become politically en gaged, such as researching the en vironmental positions in political

es that students may notice are the LED lighting and water bot tle stations around campus, but there are also a number of water and heating upgrades as well (the Sustainability Department was reached out to through email, but did not reply back for comment by this article’s publication date).

So, this sustainability month, switch out that burger for some Beyond Meat. But while you’re at it, remember who the biggest emitters are, and don’t forget it next time an election rolls around.

josh king news writer

They want us to get on recycling, but we need to get on big carbon emitters.

Photo: Steven Leith via Flickr

“The reason one of the world’s largest companies invested in educating everyone about their carbon footprint is because it takes the focus and blame away from the institutions and people with power, and places it back on the individual.”

–Josh King

culture

Bidding adieu to this year’s pumpkin patches

victoria baht staff writer

What is your annual fall hobby? Mine is visiting corn mazes and pumpkin patches around the city. A few that I have visited over the years that you may recognize by name are Happy Hollow Corn Maze, Lin coln Gardens, and Cedar Creek Gardens, but I have discovered a new one this year! This pumpkin patch is located at Cross Iron Acres. A few interesting facts to know about Cross Iron Acres is that it is located in southern Saskatchewan and is about 10 minutes north of Moose Jaw. Not only is it a pumpkin patch for the fall season, it is also a wedding venue that is placed on an outstandingly beautiful acreage.

Now that you know a little bit about where this pumpkin patch is located, let me give you a review of my experience there. First of all, the acreage is very easy to find, and its location is quite straightforward. When I was driving out there, I stopped in Moose Jaw for a little detour and a lunch stop at Déjà Vu (by the way, the perfect stop for lunch if you have not been; it is a muststop hit in Moose Jaw). When leaving, you can drive out on Main Street North and continue for 10 minutes, and you’ll find the acreage located right there on the highway, super easy to access and easy to spot due to the big white tent on the land. Once you pull up, you come to a nice close parking lot which gives great access to the area.

Now that we know how to get there, let’s look at the details when entering. When walking up to the pumpkin patch on the acreage, you are welcomed by the little barn with such amazing staff where you pay the entry fee of $5. Once you are in, the welcome continues with following a path and seeing a mini donut trailer and a horse ride. What better way to be wel comed, in my mind, than with the oppor tunity of the ultimate comfort snack and a wonderful ride?

As you keep walking along the acreage, you come across a great variety of pump kins. According to the website, they had grown 10 species of pumpkins locally. The ones that they had grown are Polar Bear, Jarrahdale, Valenciano, Snow Ball, Cas perita, Porcelain Doll, Renegade, Specter, Grey Ghost, and Jack of All Trades. See ing a great majority of pumpkins scattered around the acreage was great and helped me realize all the different options that were out there. There are also a few places to take some photos which are perfect for you to enjoy.

Another main thing that is set up out there for your enjoyment is a homemade goods market. They had this market locat ed in their big white tent which just added to the effect. I say effect because with such a bright area to look at all the goods, they all popped out and showed how unique each piece was. As I walked around the market this past weekend, I came across bath bombs, baked goods, wooden home decor, cute baby clothes, pottery, and more!

They really had a great selection that was perfect to start your holiday shopping, or just shopping for yourself (let’s be real).

Now that you have gotten some shop ping done, it is time to get to the fun part: the pumpkin picking! That’s right, you fol low the path and keep following the hay bales and pumpkins, and then you come up to the pumpkin patch. I have personal ly never been to a pumpkin patch like this before; it was absolutely stunning. As you walk on in, you are greeted by a wooden sign that says “The Patch @ Cross Iron Acres” in bright orange and black, which just adds to the season.

As you walk along this patch you come along mostly two types of pumpkins by the looks of it. It appeared that the ones that were for picking are known as either Rene

gades or Jack of All Trades. The pumpkins that were left in the garden were all differ ent shapes and sizes. They went anywhere from the perfect bright orange pumpkin and oval pumpkins to being tiny and green. Being able to see pumpkins for a long dis tance made it all worth the experience. As you walk along the patch and see all the different types, make sure you watch your step so you do not step on the roots of the pumpkins or the drift of the dirt. It is not a full safety hazard, rather it just adds to the experience.

Once you find which pumpkins are the ones right for you, rest assured of the fact that you can take some pictures with them. Once you are done, make sure you also take them to the front barn and pay for them, then take them home for your enjoy

ment and do what you please with them. You can go anywhere from having them as decorations to making pumpkin puree, roasting the pumpkin seeds, carving them, and probably more!

Now that you know all the ins and outs of the pumpkin patch at Cross Iron Acres, I hope it has encouraged you to go and en joy some of your favourite fall hobbies. I know I did at this pumpkin patch. It was a great time, and I would 100 per cent rec ommend it to anyone else or go again. I cannot wait to see what Cross Iron Acres and other companies come up with next year as they tend to provide activities that suit my favourite fall hobby, and I am al ready looking forward to next year!

Featuring a homemade goods market, a pumpkin patch, and mini donuts, we already can’t wait for next fall

All pumpkin, no spice makes Jack a dull boy.

Photos: Victoria Baht

“What better way to be welcomed, in my mind, than with the opportunity of the ultimate comfort snack and a wonderful ride?”

– Victoria Baht

The Lazy Owl 3: Tokyo Drift

Another semester, another Lazy Owl menu review from our brightest

jorah bright

writer

Well, maybe third time’s the charm, and this will be the time the Lazy Owl fixes their menu.

Last year, I wrote two articles about the Lazy Owl, reviewing their menu when it changed for the fall semester and then again in the winter semester. With the re turn to campus, they once again revamped their menu for this fall semester. I had a lot of things to say in the last two articles, and I’ve returned with even more.

As a disclaimer, this is not about the taste of the food, it’s about the menu. Ev

erything I say about the menu can be seen on the menu as of writing this article. Don’t forget kids, it’s not slander if there’s proof.

This is an almost entirely new menu full of brand-new items. This might be a downfall for the Lazy Owl. If they keep changing their menu, people coming in to get something they tried and liked last year won’t see the items on the menu.

Let’s move on to our categories, start ing with Pub Classics. The price range in this category is $7 to $13. In the nacho listing, it says it comes with “savoury top pings,” but doesn’t actually list any top pings. What is on the nachos? Should I be concerned about what’s on the nachos? Is

it a secret for a reason?

There are two chicken wings listings, one for a regular and one for a chef special. Why are the chef special wings gluten free but not chicken wings? Where’s the gluten in the chicken wings, but not in the other wings?

Finally, the mac and cheese. Why isn’t the mac and cheese vegetarian? What is the meat in pasta and cheese? Is it even a cheese sauce? Because it’s listed as a “creamy sauce.”

Our next section is Burgers/Sand wiches/Wraps. The price range here is $8 to $10. There are no sides for the section like there usually are for burgers and sand wiches, but they can be added to the order at an additional cost. The reason for this is unclear because options in Pub Classics come with fries.

All three burgers have the listing of “Additional sauces served on the side per request.” What are these additional sauc es? Is it a mystery sauce? Additionally, both the buffalo chicken and the chicken cae sar wraps have no description. What’s in them? Why don’t we get to know what’s in the wraps? I am starting to get concerned by the number of mystery ingredients.

I’m going to leave the pizza alone this time; too much trauma after seeing the vegan feast pizza in person.

Next is Classic Comfort Food, with a wider price range of $4 to $10. With the pani puri/gol gappe you get 12 pieces, but the veggie samosa only gets you 2. It’s a weird choice, and when the price difference is only $3 between the two items, it seems even stranger. Rounding off the section is the chicken tikka, which is marinated in a mystery marinade because, once again, they don’t tell us what the ingredients are.

It’s also listed as gluten free but served with naan bread, and Google is telling me naan is not gluten free. What’s the point of or dering something listed as gluten free and then getting gluten?

The final entrée category, Mains, has a price range of $7 to $15 and brings back the mystery ingredients in full force with the fried rice and chicken fried rice listed as containing “vegetables.” Which vegeta bles? Who knows! Maybe it’s the whole cast of Veggie Tales but they don’t want you to know that you’re eating Larry the Cucum ber. And if you want to know the vegeta bles in the vegetarian biryani, good luck knowing anything that’s in there because, again, there’s no description.

To end it off, we have the sides. We once again have no description for several menu items, and a price range of $1.20 to $10. The poutine is apparently vegetarian and vegan, even though gravy is typically made of meat and cheese curds aren’t veg an; we’re left with questions. The garden salad has a gluten-free option because, I guess, mixed greens must be full of wheat. In comparison, there’s no gluten-free op tion for the caesar salad. The final salad is a cucumber & tomato salad, which is gluten-free and vegetarian but not vegan, I guess.

I may have come back with more com plaints about all the new menu items, but I will never complain about the lack of Clamato on tap. Thank you for taking the Clamato off tap. I can sleep well at night knowing that no one is cleaning the Clam ato tap anymore. And thanks for the halal options you promised, finally.

Aren Okemaysim discusses roots-rock project OKIMAW ᐅᑭᒪᐤ

A cathartic process with catalytic aims

bodie robinson staff writer

Aren Okemaysim is a nêhiyaw/Plains Cree multi-instrumentalist and producer, orig inally from Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation in Treaty 6 territory. Nowadays, he’s situated in Treaty 4 territory in Regi na. His roots-rock music project is called OKIMAW ᐅᑭᒪᐤ. The eponymous album was released in January of this year.

Okemaysim and I met to talk about his project, creative process, another album in the works, and much more.

What does the word OKIMAW mean?

It’s a Cree word for “chief” or “lead er.” There are many different understand ings and interpretations of the word, de pending on where you’re from. I always wanted to infuse my language in my artistic practice. I thought the word sounded cool, too. Simple, memorable, and has a lot of punch.

What’s the best part about writ ing music?

Getting into that creative space, men tally. It’s an escapism tactic for me. It’s a way for me to separate my real life prob lems from the things that I enjoy. I can fo cus on letting myself be creative and enjoy ing the process. That’s what I live for.

So, your art is an escape for you. Do you hope that your listeners feel similarly? That your music can be an escape for them as well?

Actually, probably not. A lot of the content that I write, especially on this al bum, is reflective on ongoing societal is sues. Mainly in our province, but also throughout North America, problems like race relations. But there’s a good variety in the album itself. You can get lost in the mu sic if you don’t hear the lyrics. […] The es capism might exist somewhere in there, but definitely not in the lyrical content, which deals with real problems that people try to escape from anyway.

When you conceived of the al bum, what kind of message did you want to relate?

With this album, it was a cathartic process. I needed to get all these feelings out there, through the writing and music, while living through it. There wasn’t really a plan in that way. I just wanted to live in that creative space again, and let out all the real things going on inside. Those things also reflect a lot of issues people deal with in our communities, so people can relate to that.

How would you describe your sound?

Neil Young and Robbie Robertson are two of my biggest influences in writing this album. It’s folky, but there are definitely a lot more rock elements too.

Should we be expecting another album soon?

The writing is there. The music is writ ten, from my side of things. But I want to get more people involved and share the

creative reins. I’d like to see how the mu sic I’ve written changes. […] A lot of the songs for the next album are very lyrically focused, because I was writing them with just me and my guitar. So the goal is to cut the fat and strip it down musically.

Do you consider yourself an In digenous artist?

Yeah, but I don’t really like using the term. It compartmentalizes, and I’m not a fan of compartmentalizing art making. Publicly, I just refer to myself as an artist and extrapolate from there. But yes, I do happen to have Indigenous ancestry so it’s a part of who I am. However, I’m an artist first and foremost.

What’s the story behind the pic ture on the album cover?

Those two are my late grandparents. Kokum and Moshum, in my language. And then there’s me in the middle! I chose the picture because those two instilled a lot of inspiration in not just me but my fam ily, and many other community members on my reserve. It’s also an homage to my upbringing. And the lyrical content is a re flection of my upbringing too.

It’s been said that a writer’s first novel is almost always autobiograph ical and deals with a coming-of-age story. Think of Joyce’s the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, or Salin ger’s the Catcher in the Rye. Consid ering this is your first album, did you have a similar experience?

Absolutely. I wouldn’t necessarily point

to the lyrics. But, the process behind the album, definitely. It was the first time pro ducing my own original music and leading a project of this kind. So, that was a brandnew thing, and definitely coming-of-age in that it was a big step in my creative career. It took my music to the next level.

You can listen to OKIMAW ᐅᑭᒪᐤ on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram at @okimaw.band.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

If you think this hallway is spooky, just wait until you read the menu.

Photo: Lee Lim

Artist Aren Okemaysim gracing ears with his guitar playing.

Photo: Bodie Robinson

Horror recommendations for the easily frightened

jorah bright a&c writer

October is universally known as the time of pumpkin spice lattes and Halloween. As Halloween draws closer, more and more people are watching horror movies. Horror movies are coming out in theatres. For those who aren’t big fans of horror, it can be hard to know where to start during scary movie season. I only became inter ested in the horror genre a few years ago and the filmography is intimidating. Here are some horror movies that I recommend during the Halloween season if you’re new to horror and don’t know where to start, or if you want to go back for some of the classics and some of the best.

Starting us off on this chronological list is a true classic: Psycho Psycho is one of those movies that once you’ve seen it, you see pieces of it everywhere, especially in horror. It changed horror from monster movies like Dracula or Creature from the Black Lagoon to slashers with very human char acters behind the knife. It stripped away the safety shield that most protagonists in

slasher movie that made leaps and bounds for the genre. When it was released, the media wasn’t a big fan of Black Christmas, and criticized it for being unnecessarily violent and too slow-paced. It was a huge inspiration for the incredibly popular Hal loween movie. It introduced classic tropes like the killer’s POV and the killer calling their victims over the phone. Black Christ mas doesn’t often get the credit it deserves for its work in the horror genre.

John Carpenter’s Halloween was re leased in 1978 and created the infamous horror killer Michael Myers. One of the biggest aspects of Halloween was the music. Carpenter made the score himself and it creates the perfect horror atmosphere. Not every Halloween movie after the first one was great, but the first one is significant in horror culture. It also introduces Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, the final girl, in her first feature film. Curtis does an in credible job with the role and the movie wouldn’t be the same without her.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie The Shining is an iconic horror movie. Since its release, horror movies and general pop culture have often paid homage to scenes

A new slasher villain entered the ring in 1984 with Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddy Krueger follows a lot of tropes introduced in early slashers like Halloween and Black Christmas. It was wildly successful upon release and it pushed hor ror villains more into the supernatural that audiences would see later on with resur rections of characters like Jason Voorhees. Craven took the slasher genre away from a killer being in your home and moved it to a killer being in your head.

Doll haters look away, the next mov ie is 1988’s Child’s Play. It was directed by Tom Holland, but most of the credit goes to Don Mancini who came up with the sto ry and is still creating media with the char acter in the current TV show Chucky (which is great). Child’s Play is so great because of the amazing child acting from Alex Vin cent as Andy Barclay, and the team of pup peteers behind Chucky. Despite the horror and murder in this movie, Child’s Play is fun and Chucky likes to crack jokes. The se ries gets a bit more silly and leans towards comedy as it goes on, but the first movie is mostly a slasher, and entirely a great movie.

Returning to Wes Craven, 1996’s

Scream, the historical accounting of horror movies changed to before Scream and after Scream. Its importance for the genre landed it on my recommendation list.

Let’s have some fun with our next movie, shall we? 2009’s Jennifer’s Body, star ring Megan Fox, is genuinely a fun horror comedy. It plays on the male gaze through its marketing, but turns into a movie about female friendship and puts Jennifer as the main killer of the movie. It’s way more fun than it is scary, and honestly a great time.

You’re Next is my favourite horror movie. It was directed by Adam Wingard and re leased in 2011. It’s a home invasion slasher with a fun twist at the end, and my favou rite final girl. Erin is a really smart protag onist. She fights back against the invaders and constantly makes intelligent choices to save her life and the lives of the people in the house with her. Sometimes with horror, you find yourself screaming at the TV as the main character makes a bad decision, but this doesn’t happen with You’re Next Erin is consistent in her choices and you never worry about her doing something stupid like other horror protagonists.

These are my nine horror movie rec

– Jorah Bright

movies have by killing off the main heroine halfway through the movie. The monster was just a man who killed a woman in the shower in a scene that lives in infamy. Al fred Hitchcock did things that no one else had ever done in horror. His use of blood and violence let other films use it in new and different ways. There would be no slashers without Psycho, and you’ll see its influence in every other slasher on this list.

The next movie, Black Christmas, came out 14 years after Psycho and is another

from the movie. The famous “Here’s John ny!” is everywhere in the media and paro died often in horror, like in the Child’s Play franchise. This is an iconic movie without any reboots either, just the sequel Doctor Sleep by Mike Flanagan, which Stephen King (author of the Shining novel) liked more than Kubrick’s film. Mike Flanagan’s Netflix shows aren’t on my list because this is about movies, but I highly recommend all of them.

Scream was a genre changer at the time of its release. By 1996, a lot of slashers were sequels of earlier franchises like Halloween and Friday the 13th, but Scream did things differently. The characters had seen horror movies and made fun of common slasher tropes. It left behind the silent stalkers like Michael and Jason and instead went for a more funny killer in Ghostface. Our final girl, Sidney Prescott, knows about horror and how to use the resources around her. After

ommendations for Halloween. Remember, horror isn’t for everyone, and don’t try to force yourself to enjoy a genre if you don’t want to (or just can’t). It can be a lot to take in for people who don’t like blood, gore, or jump-scares. Don’t let anyone pressure you into watching a horror movie just because it’s October. But, if you do choose to watch a horror movie, or you’re new to the genre and want to get started, these are my rec ommendations.

If you tend to scare quick but are looking to dip your toes, search no further

“

Sometimes with horror, you find yourself screaming at the TV as the main character makes a bad decision, but this doesn’t happen with You’re Next. Erin is consistent in her choices and you never worry about her doing something stupid like other horror protagonists.”

The sort of spooky that doesn’t interrupt your beauty sleep. Illustration: Lee Lim

sports & health

Canada bound for the FIFA World Cup again (finally)

Canada is set to compete at the FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar this upcoming Novem ber. This is the first time since 1986 that Canada’s men’s team has qualified for the World Cup. The men’s national team has been in a slump for quite a while and the change in player development and overall mindset has allowed the team to find new forms of success. A new coaching staff and leadership style by John Herdman, and the implementation of young, dedicated players like Alphonso Davies, has allowed Canada to have success through qualifying and beyond.

Liberians be displaced. In 2005, Alphonso and his family emigrated to Canada and found a home in Edmonton. In 2015, Da vies moved to Vancouver at the age of 15 to join the Whitecaps FC Residency Pro gram. Davies joined Whitecaps FC 2 in 2016, where he became the youngest play er at the time to sign a USL contract at the age of 15.

He officially signed his first team con tract in 2016, becoming the youngest ac tive player in Major League Soccer (MLS) at the time, and third youngest of all time. Due to the electric start of his career in the MLS, Davies sparked interest from

was named to the 40-man roster for the 2017 Gold Cup, where he went on to win the Golden Boot award, Young Player of the Tournament, and Best XI selection. He also helped Canada beat the United States in a CONCACAF Nations League, which was Canada’s first time beating the United States in 34 years.

Davies is ultimately a key player for Canada going into the World Cup. His ability and playing style give Canada the diversity and spark that they need. Canada has showcased that they can play without Davies; however, when he is not on the field, Canada’s drive and potential to win

pitch soon.” There is no mention of when Davies will return to training, which may impact his full fitness going into the World Cup next month. Davies already suffered setbacks this season in the form of compli cations after a bout of COVID-19, which resulted in him having symptoms of myo carditis. Myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart and is considered a mild heart condition, however it did require him to miss almost four months of playing.

The potential loss of Davies playing in the World Cup would be detrimental to Canada as Davies brings international ex perience, pace, and next-level soccer IQ to

Canada beat Mexico in goals to claim the first spot overall in qualifying. Many Canadians never thought they would see the day where Canada would not only qualify for the World Cup, but finish first in qualifying. The shift in support was seen throughout the qualifying stages as Canada continued to build momentum during the whole process. In an interview with Sports net, head coach John Herdman echoed that thought process by saying “I think this country, they never believed in us. Because we’ve given them nothing to believe in. They believe now.”

A player who helped Canada have a chance to qualify is Canada’s young super star Alphonso Davies. Davies was born in 2000 to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana. His parents fled the Second Liberian Civil War which occurred from 1999 to 2003 and saw more than 450,000

many high-profile teams in Europe, in cluding Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool. In 2018, he ultimately signed a multi-million-dollar contract with Bay ern Munich in Germany. Davies made his breakthrough in 2019 making that first team and winning Champions League with Bayern.

Davies’s national team experience started in 2014 when he was called to un der-15 and under-18 national team camps. In 2016, Davies was named U17 Male Player of the Year for his performances on the under-17 and under-20 national teams during their friendlies. He was then grant ed the same honour again in 2017 due to his performances and impact on the senior national team. In 2017, Davies became a Canadian citizen, which allowed him to compete fully with the senior national team.

Davies saw success early on when he

is not as pronounced.

On October 8, during a Bayern Mu nich match against Borussia Dortmund, Davies suffered a scary injury. He suffered a cranial bruise, or a bruised skull, after a Dortmund player kicked his head instead of the ball when Davies was trying to head the ball down during a 50/50 ball. He looked unsteady while receiving treatment and while being helped off the field. In re sponse, Bayern Munich acknowledged that Davies was feeling good considering the circumstances, but stated that he would be sitting out of training the following Sunday.

Bayern Munich says that the bruise was re vealed by scans while Bayern’s Manager Julian Nagelsmann suspected a possible concussion after the game.

During a brief video on Instagram, Davies stated that he wanted “to say thank you everyone for the nice messages, and I’m looking forward to being back on the

Canada’s game. However, it is important to remain optimistic of Davies’ return, as the World Cup starts in just over a month, which will give Davies some time to heal properly.

The World Cup draw puts Canada in Group F with Belgium, Morocco, and Cro atia, giving Canada the potential to have success in getting out of the group stages. Belgium will be Canada’s greatest competi tor while Croatia will give Canada a run for its money. Morocco won’t be an easy game for Canada, but Canada has the potential to beat them. If Davies is healthy, the team has a greater shot of being successful in this tournament and giving Canada something to cheer about. Canada’s first World Cup match is against Belgium on November 23, starting at 1 p.m. CST.

Roster remains uncertain as superstar Alphonso Davies recovers from a kick to the head

sophia stevens s&h writer

Will they make it? Tune in next month.

Image: OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay and CIker-Free-Vector-Images via Pixabay, manipulated by Lee Lim

“I think this country, they never believed in us. Because we’ve given them nothing to believe in. They believe now.”

– John Herdman

Exercise + disability

shae sackman production manager

Working out can be a daunting undertak ing for everyone. Finding the right kinds of clothes, learning how to use different machines and equipment, and facing chal lenges to things like your motivation are all familiar obstacles. Incorporating exercise into your life gets even more complicated when accessibility needs enter the fray.

Changing the way their bodies work to compensate for structures, tools, and en vironments that are not adaptive, disabled people put forth immense energy, effort, and time to move through a world that dis regards their basic needs. Willingly choos ing to exercise at all after expending all the energy it takes to live day-to-day is a heavy obstacle. Being faced with equipment or exercises that are not accessible can be the end of that whole endeavor.

However, this hurdle can be overcome. The key lies not in fancy, expensive equip ment, or the sort of toxic positivity that dis abled people are often offered as an answer to practical challenges.

The key is knowledge. This can come in the form of a helpful article with expla nations of adaptive equipment options that can help fill gaps that average machines present. It can be through YouTube videos and demonstrations of how to adjust for limb differences and mobility challenges. This knowledge can also come from people who are trained, or who have experience with exercise and can explain how to prop erly modify exercises to engage your body and muscles in safe ways while still target ing the things that need to be worked on.

The best adaptive tools are often the simplest and the least expensive. Creative problem-solving in tandem with a better understanding of the movement of the body is often the most effective approach. Some flexible ideas aimed at weight train ing include:

Foam padding. Limb differences of ten mean that pressure is placed on skin, muscle, bones, and joints that are not used to that sort of weight. Foam padding used for lining bars for squats can slip onto the bars of machines easily, and hugs the metal tightly. There are many different styles and sizes that can ease the load of metal crush ing parts of the body it normally shouldn’t. An added bonus: Sometimes the padding can make up the difference in distance, helping you to balance more steadily.

Handles, straps, hooks, and gloves.* Handles for cable machines or re sistance bands can be used in many differ ent ways and come in many different styles; some you can wrap around forearms, some have silicone or rubber grips lining the handles, and some are wide enough to ac commodate different parts of the body. An kle straps with D-rings and Velcro can be adjusted and hooked up to cable machines, opening up many different lifting possibil ities.

Weightlifting hooks can work for some, helping to modify grip and take the load off of joints or contact points without needing to grasp. Gloves or braces lined with sili cone on the exterior can be slid up on fore arms, wrists, palms, and fingers, and can help with absorbing shock and gripping ex ercise equipment with a more secure feel.

Exercise bands. Resistance bands can come in plain loops of different widths, or with hooks, handles, or even just a stretchy latex you can wrap around body parts. In addition to being endlessly useful for stretching, lifting, or even just starting to learn about how to engage in adaptive fitness practices, they’re incredi bly practical. They can also be used to stuff into or around metal bars or handles on a machine, and can provide extra grip or a more secure hold.

Understanding how your body works, and what it can and can’t do, often brings fraught, frustrating, futile feelings. Using creative problem solving in tandem with a growing knowledge can help bring a sense of ease and enjoyment into exercising.

* The author of this article definitely did not have to look up ‘grippy gym glove’ to find out what this kind of glove was called.

NFL concussion policy under scrutiny once again

sophia stevens s&h writer

On Sunday, September 25, the Miami Dolphins hosted the Buffalo Bills. During the game, Dolphins quarterback Tua Ta govailoa suffered a hit that caused him to hit his head on the turf. When he stood up from the play, he was visibly shaken up as his legs started to give out underneath him. His teammates had to hold him up while trainers made their way onto the field. He was taken off the field where he was then assessed by the team doctor and an inde pendent neurologist.

Many people watching at home be lieved that Tagovailoa had suffered a con cussion due to his response after the hit, and many were shocked to see him return to the game and continue playing. For him to return to playing meant that Tagovailoa had been cleared by the team doctor and the independent neurologist. After the game, the Miami Dolphins indicated that Tagovailoa had suffered a back injury, and that he did not show any signs or symptoms of a concussion.

Due to public outcry, the NFL opened an investigation into the incident. Howev er, the investigation did not require Tagov ailoa to sit out until the investigation was complete. Therefore, he was allowed to continue to practice and play leading up to the Dolphins game on Thursday.

In a short NFL week, the Dolphins travelled to Cincinnati to play the Bengals.

During the game, Tagovailoa took another hit and his head again hit the turf. Howev er, this time, he became unconscious and was seen in a position known as ‘fencing.’ Fencing normally occurs after neurological

trauma and causes someone’s arms to be held in an unnatural position. Tagovailoa was then carted off the field after receiving two blows to the head within five days.

After being transported to hospital, the Miami Dolphin’s released a statement that Tagovailoa was indeed conscious, and that all his extremities had movement. This raised a lot of questions from the public and sports commentators about how the NFL handles concussions, and the imper fection within their policies. After Tagov ailoa’s injury, many former NFL players came forward stating that they had previ ously manipulated NFL protocols by stat ing that some other body part hurt in order to allow them to continue to play. Many athletes have a hard time leaving games even when they are seriously injured, even when it’s in their best interest to stop com peting.

People believe that this was the case of Tagovailoa as the team stated that he in jured his back, though signs after the hit in dicate that this was not the case. However, after the investigation concluded, the NFL and NFLPA indicated that the concussion protocol failed as the intended outcome of this protocol was not met in this case. The NFL has since changed its protocol heading into this weekend’s games, which saw Miami Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater exit the game in the first quar ter after his head hit the turf.

Although this incident has painted the NFL in bad light once again, the NFL has made positive steps in the right direction this past preseason by requiring all offen sive linemen, defensive linemen, tight ends, and linebackers to wear helmet protec tors called Guardian Caps. The Guardian Caps are an extra layer of protection that

goes over top of players’ helmets to help minimize the impacts of hits to the head. Results indicate a 10 per cent reduction in the severity of impact when one player in a collision wears the helmet, and a 20 per cent reduction when two players wear helmets. However, these helmets were only

worn during the preseason and not during the regular season. The NFL understands the impact that hits have on players, and it is also their responsibility to fix loopholes and gaps within policies and protocols that impact players negatively.

Adapting weight training techniques can be necessary when equipment design is one size fits all

“The show must go on” may work as a motto sometimes, but can lead to harm when taken too far

They make gym accessories brightly coloured to try and cheer you up.

Photo: Shae Sackman

When the scene’s this Looney Tunes-esque, you know it’s time to get off the field.

Illustration: Lee Lim

Us vs inflation Life has changed in response to the rising costs of living

Inflation and rising living costs are hardly anything new at this point. I don’t think I know anyone that isn’t struggling with ris ing gas and food prices. I had thought that this year might be the year things get a little more comfortable for me, as I have a job instead of living solely on student loans and I was able to utilize my deep freeze more. But, as I am getting to the point where I need to stock up on things, my wallet is be ing hit harder each time I go to the store.

I now have a part-time job which I didn’t have before the rise in costs. But de spite being paid well, I feel like I am in the same boat as I was before. I even purchased meat and vegetables to put in my freezer to help cut costs later, but this hasn’t helped that much. I am fortunate my landlord gives us a significant discount on our rent, and I get a student discount on my internet bill, but everything else costs more than it used to. My usual box of frozen chicken breasts jumped over $10 in 3 months, and now has less chicken than before. My fian cé and I even paid rent as many months in advance as we could and knew it would help us keep our monthly costs lower. It did help, and thank God my landlord hasn’t raised rent just because he can.

I have ADHD, which means I do tend to forget about things that I cannot see, like food in my fridge. With the rate food prices have skyrocketed, I cannot afford to be forgetting about fruits and vegetables in my fridge, so I am relying on what can be frozen or bought frozen. I never thought I would see things get this bad until earlier this year when I saw speculation online about how much the prices of everything would rise.

Another thing that I would like to high light is what I have seen at work. I work at a non-profit that provides food security programming, such as free pantries in the community. I started in May and saw the needs of people around us increase steadily since then. In May, we could get to the pan

tries, fill them, and they would be empty in about 20 minutes. Now, we are lucky if we can even make it to the pantries without people stopping us on the way, asking if we have bread, milk, or even just a simple little pastry.

People are also getting a bit more ag gressive and have shoved us around just to get what we were putting in the pantries, which is a sign of how desperate people are getting for the smallest bits of food. I live across the street from Trinity Lutheran Church and a few steps away from Carmi chael Outreach. It’s becoming a normal sight to see people lined up around the block just waiting for a meal. We also have people constantly asking us for food at our doors, and it’s not uncommon for them to be parents. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the URSU pantry program is seeing an influx of students and that the fridge is being heavily utilized.

In my previous article, I wrote about the $500 that Scott Moe is giving every Saskatchewan resident over the age of 18. This amount will be helpful for help ing make ends meet for however long that amount lasts and, let’s be honest, that will probably allow a family a single trip to the grocery store with some money left over to buy new winter gear. The nearly $500 mil lion could also be used to help offset the impact of inflation on Saskatchewan resi dents. Still, we all know what battle Scott Moe would rather have than help a ma jority of Saskatchewanians. The reality is that inflation is a major issue we are facing right now, but the longer corporate greed is left unchecked, the longer we all suffer for it. Unfortunately, right now, corporations have their hands so deep in government pockets that we will continue to suffer for it.

My father lived during the 80s, which was the last time that inflation was even close to this severe. Now, not all tips helped, but I will share what has reduced the im pact that inflation has had on my life:

Buy what you can that will freeze (veg etables, fruit, meat or meat alternatives).

Learn how to bake (also a great stress release during midterms and finals; beating out doughs is a delicious way to let out that stress).

Stock up on non-perishables when you can. Costco delivers through Instacart if needed.

Apps like Flashfood offer a discount on food that might not be wanted and is used by the community fridges. A lot of the baked goods here, like bread and cakes, can be frozen for later.

Use receipt reward apps. I use Receipt Hog as I was able to gain my rewards fast and could then use the rewards to purchase a Visa gift card that can be used for or dering groceries online or just to have as

a backup.

Meal prep as much as possible, even if it is just taking leftover chicken strips from the night before and using it as meat for a salad the next day.

Use as many coupons as you can. Stores like Superstore have them as you enter the store, and some companies make their coupons available on their website.

See if your friends need the same prod ucts as you during sales where you can buy multiples and split them. Stores like Coop use those prices for determining product prices, so if something is 5 for $5, each will only cost $1.

Do not hesitate to access the food bank if you begin thinking you need to access it. They are there to be used by those in need.

Illustration: Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay

katlyn richardson contributor

When they told us the sky is the limit, they did not specify that ‘sky’ meant living costs.

H E Y S T U D E N T G R O U P S !

C A R I L L O

R E G I N A C O

T U D E N T

Tipping culture in Canada

Tipping is one of the biggest cul ture shocks I have experienced since moving to Canada. All of the countries I had lived in pre viously had no such thing as tip ping. In fact, trying to tip some one in Hong Kong would be an insult. However, in Canadian cul ture tipping is one of those things that is encouraged. Over the years, I have grown to understand arguments from both ends of the spectrum.

On one hand, tipping can be seen as a service fee, a way to encourage someone for doing a great job. On the other hand, it is

ping buttons on places that did not even have tipping before, like your nearest Starbucks, Fresh&Sweet, etc. The idea of Starbucks forcing its baristas to rely on tipping when we are fully aware that it could afford to pay its employees well is absolutely in sane. It’s as if we are living in an episode of Black Mirror.

Simon Pek, a professor at the University of Victoria Gustavson School of Business, believes that the default tipping suggestion is an important choice to consider.

“If those numbers are higher, it makes us think that a higher tip is more appropriate.”

frankly, two years later, it’s still work.” In Heinrich’s restaurant, pay varies depending on a work er’s performance, experience, or their current role.

“Dishwashers are making a living wage. Servers are making a living wage. But certainly our best servers are paid more than our least experienced servers. In the previous system, that wasn’t possible.”

I think it is absolutely brilliant that some employers are choosing to pay their workers more when they can. I find that this is nor mally the case at independent es tablishments, but at least it shows

prefer the illusion of having pow er over the server and being able to control how much they can tip rather than a flat rate service fee.

“Everybody complains about tipping, but given the choice be tween a restaurant with tipping and a restaurant with a service charge, I’m not sure how cus tomers would make that choice. I think customers might actually prefer the tipping approach if given the choice,” Mentzer told CBC. “In an ideal world, there would be no tipping. It’s a human rights catastrophe. But it’s just so deeply entrenched. I think we’re stuck with it.” Mentzer empha

44 per cent of 1500 surveyed Ca nadians stated that their tips are much higher today in comparison to tipping pre-COVID-19.

Increasing pre-programmed tip percentage options “scare peo ple into tipping a higher percent age than they might have ever considered before,” noted Men tzer. I believe there is some truth to this, as I have experienced tip ping burnout as a result from be ing required to tip at places that never had that requirement pre viously. It is a way for businesses to guilt trip the consumer into tipping for products and services that did not rely on tips before.

– Marc Mentzer

another way for employers to get away with paying their workers in pennies, thereby forcing their em ployees to rely on tips to make a living. Since the pandemic, I have seen tipping culture take a brand new face, one that I had never witnessed before. We’re promised things such as rising wages which are supposedly meant to make our lives easier. Reality paints a different, darker picture. With ris ing wages comes rising standards of living, inflation, and the cost of gas and produce skyrocketing. In the end, we are back to square one with most of us being unable to afford necessities.

Today, you can witness tip

Many have wondered what would happen if restaurants and establishments got rid of tipping. During the summer of 2020, a restaurant in Toronto named Richmond Station got rid of tip ping. Instead, it started by simply raising its prices in order to be able to pay their staff more. Rich mond Station’s co-owner, Carl Heinrich, believes that Canada’s tipping culture is a “very inequi table way of paying staff.”

“Any time you edit some body’s wage or pay, their liveli hood, there’s a lot of communica tion necessary, […] because there was no blueprint for this new sys tem, there was a lot of work. And

that there are some owners who see their employees as human be ings and not machines who must bow down to them and remain subservient. I do not mind paying more for a meal if I know that the staff are actually being paid what they deserve by the owner. It is the large corporations that I mind, who refuse to pay their workers livable wages despite being more than capable.

According to Marc Mentzer, a business professor at the Uni versity of Saskatchewan, busi nesses that replace tipping with service fees tend to not succeed. I find this really interesting. Men tzer highlights that customers

sized.

Furthermore, the amount you are expected to tip is getting out of hand, and I feel as though there is this subconscious judge ment when it comes to tipping. There have been many times that I have tipped out of nothing but guilt. And I am a university stu dent, so I’m not exactly loaded with cash.

Tip inflation is absolutely a phenomenon that is occurring these days. Tip suggestion seems to be increasing, as some places are asking you to tip up to 25 and even 30 per cent. A survey imple mented by Restaurants Canada earlier this year concluded that

It definitely showcases the mul titude of ways that our economy is changing right before our own eyes.

I think tipping culture is one of those systems that is hard to dismantle. It requires businesses paying their staff livable wages. It requires that there must be no loopholes for businesses to get by doing the bare minimum. It re quires the government to imple ment new legislation to combat tipping culture in a way that ap peases employees who live off of tips and consumers who are tip ping more than they used to prior to the pandemic.

Why are customers shamed for not tipping, but never owners for not paying fair wages?

amina salah staff writer

If I wanted my meal to come with a side of guilt for disappointing someone, I could always join family for dinner.

Image: Lee Lim

“In an ideal world, there would be no tipping. It’s a human rights catastrophe. But it’s just so deeply entrenched. I think we’re stuck with it.”

Preparing for the prairie winters

Winter is coming. Are you ready?

victoria baht staff writer

Thanksgiving has sadly come and gone. Do you know what that means? I’ll give you a hint.

Thanksgiving is the first big hol iday after the summer holidays, to give you a chance to get to gether with your family and eat lots of food – whether it be tur key, ham, or apple or pumpkin pie. Now, what does that signal?

That the winter and cold months are heading our way.

Thanksgiving is the sign and the start of the “hibernation” season for us Canadians. That means it is time to start preparing for the prairie winters, and I am going to talk about exactly that. Here, I am going to talk about all the tips and tricks that you need to get ful ly ready for the prairie winters, so you can be well-prepared.

My first big tip is to go through your closet and organize your clothes, and ensure that you have all the gear that you need. I mean winter jackets, snow pants, boots, mittens, toques, scarves, and the basic outer layer essen tials. Why am I looking for all the outdoor gear so early, you may ask? Frankly, it has been known that this stuff comes into stores fast and sells out fast, before you

know it.

Ensure that you try on the gear. That way, you know that it fits comfortably, and you can de bate on buying new gear if need ed or can keep your eyes open through these upcoming weeks for something better. You can frankly always find mittens and toques. But, let’s be real, it can never be too early to have those on hand. I was already contemplating wear ing mittens early last week when we had that crazy wind blowing at 50 km/h.

Now that our outer gear is all in order and we know what to ex pect for clothing, what else should you expect when the winter sea son comes? Frankly, I know that it may sound a little weird, but I have noticed over the many years of living in Saskatchewan that your diet or eating habits may also change come the winter months. What do you typically eat in the summer months? Does it often consist of a burger with fries, a light salad with some protein, or a sandwich with chips on the side?

Well, it has appeared to me over the years that when the tem perature is cold, you start to crave whole foods to help “warm” your insides. So that burger and fries may turn into a roast beef sand wich with some steaming gravy on the side to dip into, or that salad may turn into a stir fry with a protein and hot sauce, or that sandwich now may be sided with some warm soup to help comfort your insides. If this food sounds appetizing to you, spend some ex tra time over these next couple of weeks to prep meals or stock up on some goods.

COVID-19 safety measures on campus

amina salah staff writer

Fall is a season I always look for ward to. It symbolizes a new be ginning. The weather is cool and crisp. The sun sets early, and my surroundings are plastered with orange, crispy leaves that feel nice when I step on them.

Returning to campus has been an interesting experience. The first thing I always notice is how many people are not wear ing masks. It is not my inten tion to judge anyone. However, I can’t help but feel as though people are going on with life as if the pandemic is over, and not an ongoing issue. I have literally witnessed some people coughing, clearly sick, but STILL not wear ing masks. I just don’t understand why someone would not wear a mask if they have a cold. I had a cold over the summer and I con sistently wore my mask because I feel like it is disrespectful to be coughing all over the place with out a mask on. I wanted to do as much as I could in order to pro tect my family and friends from getting a cold (at least) from me.

As soon as mask requirements were dropped, many stopped

wearing them. I can understand that. On one hand, masks can be uncomfortable. But for me per sonally, wearing a mask daily is a reflex at this point. It is second na ture. I am blessed that I have nev er had COVID, and I aim to keep that COVID-free streak going as far as I can.

The great thing is that there were COVID-19 booster shots available in September through out the university’s vaccination clinics across campus. I love that it is something that is easily ac cessible for students on campus.

As someone who lives all the way on the other side of the city, I am always at the university, so it has been easier for me to access booster shots. On top of that, the Mental Wellness Hub is a great mental health digital resource where students can have access to mental health support, wellness related information, prevention programs, and online training and workshops.

The pandemic has had great impact on all of us. It is important to understand that there is always help available if you are in need of it. There is no shame in that.

It’s not something you should feel guilty about. Needing help does

not make you weak; rather, it makes you strong. These resourc es are available so we can take advantage of them and make use of them. They were established to serve students. We are paying thousands in tuition each semes ter. It is our right to get as much use of the resources available to us as we can.

The reality is that as students, life during a pandemic is still something that we are learning to navigate. It is not easy. None of us have ever experienced any thing like this. Luckily, it comes with more knowledge and educa tion as more time goes by. When we know better, we do better. It is important to take the proper measurements to stay safe in these times. Life is incredibly taxing for many of us. It is important to pri oritize ourselves and our mental health as well as physical well-be ing. We at least owe that to our selves.

Should we start taking bets on how much longer it’ll be before the university decides to start charging for each mask?

So far, you have learned how to ensure that your body is warm by having proper outer gear, and also your insides with some whole foods. Now that you know a bit about how to prepare for the prairie winter, let’s talk about some activities that you get the chance to enjoy in these winter months to stop scaring you about what is about to come. It’s always better to be able to say and think to yourself “Ahh, yes, it’s that time of the year again!”

A few of the best activities that I personally enjoy in the win ter months include ice fishing on the lakes, ice skating (trust me, you do not have to be good at ice skating to enjoy it occasion ally), having a nice hot chocolate while reading a book, and lastly, the chance to go skiing or snow boarding. Now, we may not have the most outstanding mountains like Banff, but we are close by, and we do have some killer hills that still offer that feeling of rip ping through some snow on your way down. Be sure to check out Mission Ridge; this seems to be a well-known location close to Re gina.

So, I have talked to you about how to prepare for the winter months by having proper winter gear, eating whole foods, and do ing some fun activities that you can enjoy during these prairie winter months. Just remember these prairie winter months are not always the worst, and they will most likely only last for 8-10 months. What’s the worst that could happen? Guess we will see in these upcoming weeks.

A beautiful view, but looks like you’re about to miss your bus.

Photo: Holly Funk

Photo: Lee Lim

I A M O N

I a m n o t b e a t e n , b u t I h a v e t a k e n A n d t h e s u n s t i l l w a r m s m e l i k e T h e r e s t , I a m t h e g u l l p a s s i n g , I a m T h e g e e s e r o u n d i n g t h e p o i n t , p a d d l i n g B e t w e e n t h e i c e s h e e t s a n d t h e s k i e s C r y s t a l c l e a r f r o m u n d e r l o o k i n g u p A n d g r a v i t y p u s h e s u s d o w n

I a m n o t h i d i n g , b u t I a m h i d d e n A n d t h e p o p l a r s s t i l l t a l k t o m e l i k e A m o t h e r , I a m t h e i r b l a c k e y e s , I a m W h i t e f a c e s , a n d I f o l d m y b a r k A r o u n d m y b a b y l i k e a p r o m i s e o f l e a v e s A t n i g h t w i t h o p e n b r a n c h e s A n d t o m o r r o w w i t h w i n d s r e a c h i n g

I a m n o t b l e e d i n g , b u t I a m t h e w o u n d s F l o w i n g i n m y r o o t s l i k e I a m h u n d r e d s o f p e o p l e t a l k i n g T o t h e p e l i c a n s l e a v i n g , t h e c a r p s t a y i n g U n i n v i t e d , I a m t h e s e e d O f w i l d f l o w e r c a u g h t i n f e a t h e r e d f r o s t A n d w i n g i n g n o r t h a c r o s s t h e r o c k s I a m n o t b r o k e n , b u t I a m h e a l i n g L i k e a w i n g t h a t c a n s w i m I a m n o t c r y i n g , b u t I a m w r i t i n g D o w n t h e s c a r s t h a t s h i n e I a m n o t d y i n g , b e c a u s e I a m l i v i n g L i k e I k n o w t h e d i f f e r e n c e , a n d I a m t h a n k f u l T h a t t h e l e s s I n e e d , t h e m o r e I g i v e

A L L G O O D P O E T S S P E A K D A R K

I a m a w a k e i n a n e m b r a c e O f d a r k n e s s t h a t s o f t l y k n o w s I t i s n e a r l y a d a w n , a n d a m o o n T h a t i s e a g e r t o s h o w h o w b r i g h t W e c a n b e w h e n t h e r e i s l e s s T o s e e , I a m a g e n t l e b r e e z e B r i n g i n g w a v e s t o a n e d g e

I a m w o n d e r i n g w h e r e A s I f i n d m y w a y h o m e , m y w a y H o m e i s s l i p p i n g i n t o v e r t i g o , n o t h i n g I s n e v e r m o v i n g e v e n w h e n y o u a r e A l o n e , a n d w h a t i s a l o n e w h e n N o w , I a m t h e f i e l d f r i n g e G r a s s e s b e n d i n g i n t o m y b o n e s

I a m t i r e d , a f o x p a d d i n g b a c k t o m y k i t W i t h a s u p p e r t h a t d e p r i v e s A n o t h e r o f s l e e p , I a m l o v e a n c i e n t T h a t f i g h t s e v e n w h e n i t i s d e e p I n a d e n t h a t w a s c a r v e d b y m i l l e n n i a t o k e e p O u r h e a r t s , m y h e a r t , I a m a b e a t O f t i m e c a u g h t i n a b r e a t h n e a r b y

I n d a r k n e s s I w o n d e r , a n d i n d a r k n e s s I f o l d i n t o s p a c e s t h a t i n t h e l i g h t I w o u l d r a t h e r n o t g o , a n d i n d a r k n e s s t h e s p a c e S p e a k s g e n t l e r a s y o u g r o w L i k e a s e e d t h a t h a s b u r r o w e d I n t o a s p a c e i t w i l l k n o w , I a m S u n o n t h e o t h e r s i d e

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